Another pressure on the Great Barrier Reef is the loss of its sharks through the East Coast Inshore Fin Fish Fishery (ECIFF) just to export fins to produce shark fin soup in Asia. This is having a huge impact on the reef more then any new development. When sharks are overfished, a cascade of effects can lead to a depletion of important grazers of plant life. This is because there are fewer sharks to feed on carnivorous fish that prey on herbivorous fish such as parrotfishes. The loss of these fishes can cause a coral reef to shift from coral to algae dominated with less biodiversity. A loss of sharks also impacts diving tourism as at least 75% of all divers will say they most want to see sharks while diving. This is the reason diving tourism on the Great Barrier Reef is shifting further north to the more pristine Ribbon reefs and out to the Coral Sea. A shark study in Palau by the Australian Institute of Marine Science found that sharks were more valuable alive. And a single reef shark can contribute almost US$2 million in its lifetime to the economy of Palau in diving tourism.
Dwarf Minke Whales on the Great Barrier Reef
Each year about June to the end of July the Northern Ribbon reefs of the Great Barrier reef is visited by dwarf minke whales who have travelled up from Antartica to their winter breeding grounds. Dwarf Minke whal juveniles (teenagers) will seek out and approach snorkelers. It is one of the best experiences you can have and turn up in numbers. Last year I was fortunate enough to be on an extraordinary trip to the Northern Ribbon Reefs near Lizard Island aboard Spoilsport on a Mike Ball trip, Mike was there himself and we saw Minke whales every day on the 6 diving days we were out. On the trip was a researcher from the Minke Whale project at James Cook University doing their annual research. To find out more about the Dwarf Minke whales that turn up each year on the GBR checkout the Minke Whale project page http://www.minkewhaleproject.org. I Support the following organisations
Australian Marine Conservation Society
Help Save our Great Barrier Reef - donate today
Save The Reef
The Great Barrier Reef is facing its biggest threat todate. Please take a moment to sign the petion at Save The Reef.
Fight for the Reef (update)
Fight for the Reef campaigners said the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority and Federal Environment Minister Greg Hunt had let down Australians and failed the Reef.
GBRMPA today (31 January) issued a permit to allow three million cubic metres of dredge waste from the expansion of Abbot Point coal port to be dumped in Reef waters.
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From birth, man carries the weight of gravity on his shoulders. He is bolted to earth. But man has only to sink beneath the surface and he is free" Jacques Cousteau
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Thanks very much for your kind comments, will be adding another photo gallery shortly of the Coral Sea :)
From birth, man carries the weight of gravity on his shoulders. He is bolted to earth. But man has only to sink beneath the surface and he is free" Jacques Cousteau
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The design is all my own work
The design is all my own work apart from starting with a template because you do need to start somewhere to start. The engine is Drupal 7 and the theme I started with was corporateclean which you can find the community here . Plus there are loads of drupal modules that I had to add to give me all the features and functions I needed. Once its all put together its quite easy to manage but if you need help just email me, my contact email is in the footer or click on my user name to get my contact form.
From birth, man carries the weight of gravity on his shoulders. He is bolted to earth. But man has only to sink beneath the surface and he is free" Jacques Cousteau
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